Sundown

IV

Hades looked down at his much-missed wife. She looked different than the woman he had last seen in the Underworld those months ago, different than the girl he had taken from this very field.

The bronze glow of the sun radiated off her skin, sprinkled sporadically with freckles. Her long, dirty blonde hair was wavy, wild, and wind-blown, spilling over her shoulders and down her chest. His eyes lingered a bit too long on her body before flickering to her face. There would be time for that later. Or at least, he hoped there would.

He looked into her bright green eyes, desperately trying to read them. This time, he was not snatching her away and answering questions later. He had made his intentions known and now faced her reaction, feeling more and more helpless the longer she stayed silent.

The goddess of the flowers stood motionless looking up at him, her mind racing. After all that had happened to get her back, she never considered that she would see him again. Not only was he in her field now, but he intended to take her back with him to the Underworld. Her thoughts only briefly considered the ramifications with her mother and the Earth, a mix of excitement and anxiety buzzing through her. Finally, she found her voice.

"You want me ... to return to the Underworld with you?"

"Yes." His answer was resolute, his gaze unflinching. She felt exposed, like he was looking through her and into her. She bit her bottom lip and tilted her head with a hint of a smile.

"And why would you want that?"

Hades raised an eyebrow; he was certainly willing to flatter her if that's what she wanted.

"I've missed you, Persephone." The sound of her name passing his lips electrified her, like it was awakening a part of her that had lay dormant the past half year.

"And the Underworld needs both its rulers."

Rulers. King and queen, side by side, he had said. Even upon her triumphant return to the Earth, even as the goddess of the spring and the flowers and the cause of all the celebration, she was always a step below Demeter. The dark, ambitious part of her pushed down beneath Kore did miss the power and the importance the Underworld gave her. That he gave her.

"You mean to tell me that after years of ruling alone, the job is too much for you now?" This time she smiled, her eyes teasing. Hades visibly relaxed at her playfulness, her smile immediately putting him at ease.

"It seems it is." She walked past him with a tsk, purposefully brushing his arm with her shoulder as she passed. His eyes followed her as she walked up to one of his horses, reaching out to stroke its head.

"Do you ever ride them?" He blinked at her.

"I rode them here."

"No, I mean, do you ride on them? On horseback?" she looked back at him expectantly.

"No, I never have." She ran her hand across its neck, admiring its shiny black coat as it fidget in place.

"Would you like to?" he offered.

She lit up, a wide smile crossing her face. He promised himself he'd do anything she wanted for the rest of his life that elicited that reaction. Before he could offer any assistance, she held the bottom of the horse's mane, took a few hopping steps, and jumped, throwing one leg across the other side. The horse took a few steps in place, but otherwise stayed still as she situation herself, sitting up tall.

"I've never seen them so calm around someone new," he mused, patting the horse's head, trying not to stare directly at her now exposed thighs.

"Well I'm not exactly new. I'm Queen of the Underworld after all." His head snapped up to her and he dared to hope. Hope that she really still saw herself that way, that she wanted to be his queen. The ferocity of his reaction made her realize she could be playing a dangerous game, taking this lightly. His put his hand on her knee.

"Persephone, I have missed you." He looked up at her, exposed, imploring. "And I do need you," he added quietly, his gaze flickering down.

She had never seen him like this. He was out of his realm, out of his element, and separated from his usual silent strength. She had missed him too, and his vulnerable honesty pulled at her heartstrings. Her leg tingled where he touched it, and she longed for his fingers to wander furthher. She put her hand on top of his and waited for him to look back up at her, gazing back into his eyes, saying nothing.

Far across the field, Demeter frowned. Something was not right. Even though the sun had dipped below the horizon, it was too cool already, and she hadn't seen Kore in hours. The nymphs had yet again proved themselves unreliable guardians of her daughter.

As she scanned the field, she caught something dark in her periphery. She turned, squinting at the strange black figures she saw in the fading light. Kore. Horses. And...

Her heart stopped; it couldn't be. The kidnapper and rapist who had taken her daughter, the dreadful Lord of the Dead, had dared come back to the same field he took her. All of Demeter's worst nightmares immediately flooded through her, nightmares she thought would disappear forever when Hermes returned with Kore.

The vast loneliness of the days without her, the despaired thoughts of what she must be feeling, the vile, uninvited concoctions of her imagination poisoning her mind with images of him violating her, of her suffering.

Demeter let out a choked cry before taking a ragged, deep breath and charged through the field towards him. Not this time, not again. Never again. He may have avoided her wrath the day he took her or the day she returned, but today he would answer for what he had done.

Persephone opened her mouth to speak, but stopped herself, sighing. Her mother was charging across the field towards them, and it was a confrontation she imagined would be explosive. She gave Hades a wry half smile.

"You should have worn the armor."